Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

By W. Zachary Malinowski
Journal Staff Writer

CUMBERLAND , R.I.-- The police knew just where to turn when they found Rita Paiva lying dead in her blood-soaked bed early Monday in her dreary cottage-style house in the town's Valley Falls section. They traveled about a mile away and arrested her son, Richard Paiva, an ex-convict with a long history of domestic violence and vicious assaults.

Richard Paiva, 36, wore clothes that were covered in blood from allegedly stabbing his mother her multiple times with several knives that were found broken or bent near her body, a prosecutor told a District Court judge at the suspect's arraignment on a murder charge.

The police responded to Rita Paiva's house, at 64 Baldwin St., four times in the five-day period before the slaying for reports of domestic violence -- Wednesday, Saturday and twice on Sunday. Michael Healey, spokesman for Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, said that no arrests were made the first three times because neither Rita nor Richard Paiva chose to file a criminal complaint against each other and there was no sign of physical injuries.

That changed on Sunday afternoon. Rita Paiva, 57, told police that she was cooking in the kitchen when her son punched her in the head, knocked her down and ripped the telephone from the wall. The police obtained a warrant for his arrest, but they were not able to find him.

When they did track him down, at 6 Belmont Terrace, it was too late. Paiva, the police said, had killed his mother.

Asked whether the police could have done more, Healey said, "I don't know. The police were trying to find him. They were doing the right thing."

A review of arrest reports and court files shows that Richard Paiva, his mother and other members of his immediate family are well-known to many police departments in the Blackstone Valley. They have found themselves locked up in police cell blocks in Cumberland, Central Falls and Pawtucket.

In the early 1990s, Paiva was arrested on a charge of assaulting his mother. Around that same time, Rita Pavia was charged with striking another woman in the head with a tree limb after Richard and two of her other sons were involved in a brawl on Central Street in Central Falls.

Deborah DeBare, executive director of the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said tragedy such as murder strikes families that engage in decades of domestic violence.

"What we have learned over the years is that domestic violence is a pattern," she said. "In domestic homicides, these are considered crimes of accumulation."

The Paivas fought with each other and or with outsiders who crossed their path.
Neighbors on Baldwin Street where Paiva, 57, was slain, said that Rita Paiva was volatile.

"She would start yelling and screaming if you looked at her the wrong way,'' said Pauline Lovenbury, who lives in the neighborhood and had known her for years.

The history of violence dates back two decades when the Central Falls police arrested Richard Paiva, then 18, for carrying brass knuckles. Over the years, he was a regular guest at the Adult Correctional Institutions for drug offenses and for violating the terms of his probation.

In January 1996, Richard Paiva and his father, David Paiva, were arrested in connection with an attack on William Haney on Charles Street in Pawtucket. A Pawtucket police affidavit says that Richard Paiva knocked Haney unconscious and stomped on his head and body. Meanwhile, his father was arrested in connection with the slashing of a witness, Adam Clavin, with a utility knife that left a foot-long slice across his back.

Haney suffered a broken leg and cheekbone, lost two teeth and needed 10 stitches to heal gashes on his face and lips.

The Paivas were charged with felony assault and several other crimes.

In a victim witness statement that was included in the case file, Haney said the beating forced him to miss six weeks of work. He also said that he feared for his life. "I was given a message from Richard through a friend that if I testify I will be killed and put in the Blackstone River," he wrote.

Richard Paiva pleaded no contest to a count of felony assault and was ordered to serve 18 months in prison with 54 months suspended. The charges were dropped against his father because the two victims and a key witness moved out of state.

Two years later, in July 1998, Richard Paiva was arrested again for striking Haney several times in the head again -- this time with a hammer. The ongoing dispute with Haney was over a woman who had a restraining order against Paiva.

At one point, the woman called the Pawtucket police to report that he had repeatedly driven past her home. "The victim appeared to be very nervous and trembling -- telling the officers that she was in fear for her life for calling the police,'' the police report states.

Yesterday, the Paiva's neighborhood was quiet. A few Christmas lights twinkled in the front window of the shabby vinyl-sided house with plywood blocking the top half of the front door. In the muddy front yard, near an abandoned dog house, was a handmade poster: "Rest in Peace Rita."

Comments

Shannon Rodrigues said:

I knew Rich. He was a pretty crazy guy, as you can see. But he had a good heart, sometimes. He was the kind of person you were glad to have on your side. This is a very well-put article, but many important characteristics of Rich were not known to outsiders. He was Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny on many occasions, making sure no child was left out. He was the guy awake at seven in the morning, making you breakfast because he knew you were in a hurry to get to work. If you needed a favor, Rich was there. On the downside, he lived a fast and dangerous life and this is the unfortunate result. But do not only remember Rich as a cold hearted killer, but as a friend you could always count on. Rock on, Richyboy.

Link | March 31, 2009 8:47 PM
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ee said:

What a bunch of losers.

Link | March 31, 2009 9:22 PM
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David said:

I think when the police show up more than once...someone has got to be arrested. RIP Rita.

Link | March 31, 2009 10:08 PM
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